Java Moss Finally Arrived...umm Now What?

[dsiegel13]

So my LFS finally got in the java moss I ordered...now what?

Looking to give my soon to be fry a hiding/dining spot, so looking to do a carpet effect. A couple questions...

1. I read that I can tie the moss down to a flat rock or plastic mesh that is weighed down, but do I separate each stand of moss?

2. Do I tie it down w/fishing line our cotton thread?

3. Do I need to place the moss in direct light our is out of the way okay?

4. Do I need to fertilize?

5. Once its tied down do I need to prune/trim the moss?

6. At what height do I trim/prune if needed?

7. Will it spread by shoot or how do I get more?

Thanks for the advice

 

[amy1994]

So my LFS finally got in the java moss I ordered...now what?

Looking to give my soon to be fry a hiding/dining spot, so looking to do a carpet effect. A couple questions...

1. I read that I can tie the moss down to a flat rock or plastic mesh that is weighed down, but do I separate each stand of moss?

2. Do I tie it down w/fishing line our cotton thread?

3. Do I need to place the moss in direct light our is out of the way okay?

4. Do I need to fertilize?

5. Once its tied down do I need to prune/trim the moss?

6. At what height do I trim/prune if needed?

7. Will it spread by shoot or how do I get more?

Thanks for the advice

I'm going to do this aswell, would like to see how it turns out if you could put pics up are you going to use CO2?
I think you can prune it at whatever length you want
Try a metal mesh, you can get them from ebay, also has some instructions on how to get started...
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260722966646&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1319wt_905

 

[minnnt]

I would use bog wood or rocks. If you are going to the effort of doing this for your fry then this would give you a better natural look. I use cotton to tie mine down. I did some about 10 days ago to bogwood and it has already took. Easy stuff to keep too.

Other people use fishing line, cable ties, elastic bands, even super glue.

Good luck.

 

[SchottayB]

I have coverd a coconut shell in the stuff this morning. I attached mine using cotton, easy to do! I even added a few little Java Fern plantlets on the top and side , looks quite good IMO!

 

[bumbleweasle]

I grow mine with low light (~1WPG) & no CO2. it's up near the light on a tall bit of driftwood, & seems to love it! This bit sorta planted itself to be honest, i had no idea it was even in there as I thought all mine had died when I moved house, lol.. but I've tied it on with nylon thread/fishing line succesfully in the past. You'll want to keep it well trimmed to encourage thick growth, & ye can stick the trimmings back in there too for more spread. I tend to find that they adhere to other bits of moss OK, but I'm about to increase the circulation in my tank, so this might not work anymore! It prefers low temperatures (lower than 24C) but will be fine in pretty much any tank in my experience.

 

[Harlequins]

Has above a done a coconut shell a few weeks ago,drilled small holes into the shell,then tied it down with invisable thread

 

[dsiegel13]

I'm going to do this aswell, would like to see how it turns out if you could put pics up are you going to use CO2?

I wasn't planning on using CO2, just let the stuff grow in the tank w/ the lighting and minor dosing of plant food.

I will post pics as I do this, have to be careful though, just got back from the doctor for a rash on my arms which he said is from sticking my hands in and out of the tank... yuck.

I planned to tie it down using cotton thread and a rock I think will look really nice once covered in the moss, does any know if I have to separate each individual strand of moss or can I tie a clump of the stuff down?

There is not a lot of circulation (just whatever my filter blows back into the tank) so I hope that the moss doesn't come free from the rock. Might see if I can find some plastic mesh though that might also work, and the coconut idea sounds pretty cool, punch a couple holes in it and the fish will have another hiding spot.

 

[dsiegel13]

Okay so here is what I decided to do. Being that this is my first go at Java Moss sculpture, I decided to make it easy on me...I think.

I went to the local craft store and purchased some wire mesh screens, cut and shaped them into a little dome structure, attached a weighted stainless steel washer to the underside of the dome, covered in moss, placed another wire mesh screen over the top of the first, tied them together with thread and them popped them into the tank.

Not sure if this will work but I feel good that the moss will be able to work its way thru the screen and reach for the light, plus there is no way that any moss will escape the top screen and float away. Hopefully the fish will like the new hiding spot and the fry to come will have another place to hide.

Here are a couple pictures of the process, because of the size limit on posts I can only upload 3 (if someone can tell me how they post those huge photos and manage to stay inside the 100k limit, I would really appreciate it).







Crossing my fingers that this works!

 

[dsiegel13]

I didn't like the way the wire mesh looked covering the moss, so this morning I removed it and tied down the moss using regular thread, think it looks much better, sloppy but better.





Did I put too much moss on?
Should I take out and redo the mound?
Using the mound as fry hideout so want to stay with the shape, and cave opening.

 

[dsiegel13]

HELP!!!

My moss mound exploded! At least that is what it looks like in the tank. There is moss floating everywhere, and not much left on the wire mesh frame that I built. I will definitely redo, but can someone please give me pointers on what I did wrong.

Here is what I think:

Too much moss
Not enough string tying it down
Tie downs in the wrong place
Bad shape to attempt

This time, I think that I will try more of a moss tunnel, that way I can attach the moss to a flat sheet of mesh and then just bend it up into a tunnel after everything is tied down. Thoughts???

I have fry in there so I want to give them some cover and my platies seem to like the extra hiding place.

 

[dsiegel13]

I had it with wire mesh!

So I was at my lfs and there it was.... a hollowed out coconut!

Took it home, cut it in half (w/ a hacksaw, kids be careful), drilled a dozen pilot holes in the lower rim, reapplied moss to the upper surface of the coconut, tied down in criss-cross spiderweb pattern, placed in tank and poof! Instant mossy cave.

A pics below.... moss is trickier than one might think.

 

[minnnt]

Brilliant! I might have a go and see what it looks like in my tank. I have always attatched it to bogwood so it would be good to have a change!

 

[Harlequins]

Looks good

Its a very tedious job isnt it?

I drilled holes in mine and weaved the thread in and out so it wasn't shown on the outside.
Heres mine

 

[SchottayB]

I'd of used cotton to hold it down, black and you wont see it at all! You made it look better the seccond time round. Few more attempts and you will be well away .

I'll try get a picture of mine this afternoon when the lights come on.

 

[dsiegel13]

Thanks Folks for the well wishes!

I just got my new tank light, upgraded to a T-5, so hopefully that will help the moss grow.

I understand that moss is a slow grower, but does anyone have an idea at around what point the moss will root it self to the coconut? Also, is the moss supposed to look fern-ish. At first I thought that the lfs sold me the wrong stuff, but after seeing Harlequins pics, guess it looks similar.

So it's day 3 of the great moss experiment, I am going to leave well enough alone, let them grow to some height/thickness of carpet and then I will use clear fishing line to tie the next batch down.

Just a suggestion that I forgot to mention, I drilled a couple small holes in the coconut top, so that when I went to sink it, I didn't need a weight or anything the trapped air escaped and the coconut sank on its own.